Georgica Goes Guardless

East Hampton Village has removed its lifeguards from Georgica Beach early this year due to a staff shortage and conditions there.
Morgan McGivern

The lifeguard stand was carted from Georgica Beach on Tuesday, nearly three weeks earlier than had been planned. “It was between the beaches at Two Mile Hollow, Main Beach, and Georgica . . . we had to close one,” said Ed McDonald, who manages the ocean beaches for East Hampton Village. “We are running into the same problem as restaurants and storeowners — our employees are going back to school.”
Larry Cantwell, the village administrator, okayed the request to remove the stand from Georgica Beach, where tidal surges have consistently washed up to the parking lot. “It’s a relatively short beach with no altitude,” Mr. McDonald said, adding that the beach was often unusable at high tide. “If a tropical system were to move this way, it would only get worse.”
He stressed that Georgica is not truly closed, although he has placed a no-swimming sign at the beach’s entrance. Full-time lifeguards will be on duty at the other village beaches until Labor Day, at which point they will work weekends only for the two subsequent weeks.
“I hope we have enough lifeguards,” Mr. McDonald said. “If not, Two Mile Hollow will be next.”